1. FIGHTING FEMICIDE

 

Topics Covered • GS-1: Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies. • GS-2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

 

Facts It is estimated that one-third of South Asian Women experience violence throughout their lives. A 53% rise is seen in crime against women in 2020 after lockdown was imposed. In India, the mortality rate for women from Covid is 3.3% compared to 2.9%of men. Domestic Violence: The most recent National Family Health Survey found that in India 34% of women between the ages of 15-49 have experienced violence at some point since they turned 15 and that 37% of married women have experienced violence. Dowry Deaths: As per NCRB report, on average, every hour a woman succumbs to dowry deaths in India with the annual figure rising upward to 7000. Dowry is a cultural tradition in which the family of the bride gives cash and presents to the family of the groom. Dowry related death is closely linked to a woman’s age at marriage, her educational level and her exposure to mass media. States with lower female literacy, higher rates of child marriage and less access to mass media generally experience higher rates of dowry deaths. Sex-selective abortions: About 6.8 million lesser female birth will be recorded across India by 2030 because of the persistent usage of selective abortions, researches estimate. An estimated 10 million female foetuses have been aborted over the past two decades. Gender-biased sex selection has historically been practiced among educated, middle-class families. There has also been an increase in the practice amongst lower-class and rural communities. In the year 2020, India ranked 142 among 193 countries in terms of the percentage of women in Parliament.

 

Response to Femicide

• Legislative Action:

• The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 bans the request and payment of the dowry of form as a precondition for marriage.
• Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC/PNDT) Act, 1994 prohibits the use of prenatal technologies to determine the sex of a foetus.
• There is no legislation directly addressing honour killings and currently, it is dealt with under the Indian Penal Code or the Criminal Procedure Code.

• Affirmative Action:

• The reservation of 33% of seats for women in India’s local government.
• Goa allocated nearly half of the state’s representative council seats for women.
• The penalties outlined within the legislation are weak and the implementation of these laws remains limited. As a result, we are witnessing an increase in the cases of femicide.

Way Forward

• Legislation for Violence against Women: Strong legislation is vital for holding the perpetrators account for. Legislation is also essential for addressing structural gender discrimination as well as cultural and social legitimisation of violence against women. Increased funding and strengthened infrastructure are also required.
• Sensitisation of Police Personnel: Police have little understanding of violence against women legislation. They are often influenced by social structures of gender bias. They often refuse to register a First Information Report in cases of domestic violence and dowry harassment or dowry death.

• Protocols must be developed so that police officers know how to respond when women report crimes. Gender sensitisation training must become mandatory for all police personnel.

• Increase in Support Services for Women:  Support programmes can strengthen infrastructure by increasing shelter homes and improving medical facilities. It can also educate women on their rights and the legislation protecting them from violence.
• Addressing Patriarchy: Engage with local communities and develop education programmes on women’s rights.

 

Additional Information As per National Family Health Survey-4 approx 42% girls and women in the age range of 15-24 years from urban areas depend on cloth pads every month. Issues faced during the Covid Pandemic: Victims were stuck at home and they could seek help only at specific hours – in the night everyone was asleep or in the early morning. Rescue operations became challenging as police authorities were occupied with maintaining Covid protocols. Transportation became a big hassle as public transport was not available. How to bring a new survivor of violence to the shelter home due to risk of Covid? Meeting basic needs like getting ration and daily needs.

 

2. SHG-LED WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

 

Topics Covered •  GS-1: Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies. •  GS-1: Social Empowerment, communalism, regionalism and secularism. •  GS-2: Development process and development industry - the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities,institutional and other stakeholders. •  GS-2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Self Help Groups (SHGs)

• SHGs are voluntary associations of the economically poor, usually drawn from the same socio-economic background and who resolve to come together for a common purpose of solving their issues and problems through self-help and community action.
• Introduction of SHGs in India:

• In 1984, the concept of social mobilisation through organising of SHGs was introduced based on Prof. Yunus’s Grameen Bank model.
• Initially, NABARD along with empanelled NGOs designed and developed the promotional ecosystem, including the SHGs-Bank linkage programme.
• In the year 1990, the RBI recognised SHGs as an alternate credit flow model.

• Various Committees and SHGs:

• Prof. S. R Hashim (1997) committee reviewed the poverty alleviation and employment generation programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development, GoI and recommended shifting focus from an individual beneficiary approach to group based business development. Hence, Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and its associated schemes were merged and a new scheme ‘Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana’ (SGSY) was launched to provide self-employment to the BPL line household through the formation of SHGs to bring them out of poverty during 1999 to 2011.
• Prof. R Radhakrishna (2009) committee reviewed the performance of SGSY and suggested changes in its design from a top down poverty alleviation approach to a community managed livelihood approach. The emphasis was also given to link SHG members to social safety/ welfare schemes and programs. Based on the recommendations SGSY was restructured into National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) to provide sharper focus on poverty alleviation. NRLM has been renamed as Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana — National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).

DAY-NRLM & Women Empowerment

• Twin Objective: (a) Organising rural poor women into SHGs and (b) constantly nurturing and assisting them to take up economic activities.
• The aim is to reduce poverty by enabling poor households to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, through building strong grassroots institutions for the poor.
• The programme aims to ensure that at least one-woman members from each rural poor household (about 9 crores) is brought into women SHGs.
• The SHGs movement followed five principles. These were - Regular Meetings; Regular Savings; Regular Inter-Loaning; Timely Repayment of Loans; and Up-to-date books of Accounts.
• In addition, five additional principles were started to be followed - Health, Nutrition, and Sanitation; Education; Active involvement in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs); Access to Entitlements and Schemes; and Creating Opportunities for Sustainable Livelihoods. Taken together, these principles form Dashasutras under DAY-NRLM.

• Empowering Process: The nucleus of DAY-NRLM has been built around a basic human nature of the feeling of self-worth and the self help. Following four pillars of the scheme ensure the empowerment process in DAY-NRLM:

• Social Mobilization, Formation And Promotion of Sustainable Institution of the Poor:

        v       These community-based organisations adhere to core principles of democratic governance and financial accountability.

        v       It participates effectively in local governance and development, mediates livelihood concerns and social issues affecting the poor members, facilitates access of the poor to entitlements and public services.

• Pillars of Financial Inclusion:

          v        
Here focus is laid on both demand and supply-side interventions.

        v       Demand-side interventions ensure the promotion of effective book-keeping: provision of capital support to SHGs; creating a culture of prompt repayments of loans etc.

        v       Supply-side interventions confirm the formation of sub-committees of State-level Bankers Committee in all states; bankers’ sensitisation on concept, practices, etc.

• Livelihood:

        v       The focus is on strengthening existing and new income sources, and promoting opportunities. The scheme empowered women SHGs to take up non-farm livelihood activities too.

        v       Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) promoted rural start-ups in the non-farm sector.

• Social Inclusion and Convergence: Platforms established by SHGs are leveraged for better implementation of multiple public welfare schemes/programmes.

Women Entrepreneurship and Economic Progress

• There are mainly three central aspects of entrepreneurship: (a) uncertainty and risk, (b) managerial competence, and (c) creative opportunism or innovation. Hence, promotion of entrepreneurship through SGs would require empowerment of millions of SHGs.
• If women SHGs are empowered they can ensure job opportunity by effectively utilising available resources into profitable products as per the local need and the acceptability of consumers.

Issues and Challenges

• The SHG movement traversed from the “thrift and saving” in the 1980s to the “livelihood” based economic empowerment method since the 2000s under DAY-NRLM.
• Universal social mobilization: Identification and inclusion of the poor remains a challenge. There is a need to develop community resource persons for participatory identification of the poor.
• Training, Capacity Building & Skill Upgradation: There is a lack of appropriate training plans, quality training and availability of expert training institutions.
• Universal Financial Inclusion: Lack of uniform financial management systems at all tiers of SHGs has impacted the growth in bank accounts, improvement in financial literacy, and absorption capacity of community members.
• Multiple & Diversified Livelihoods: There is lack of progressive leadership for inclusiveness of small-sized enterprises at the federal level. Market/ forward linkages are largely missing.
• Support Structure at the Community: Creation of business environment, enhancement of skills, and identification of value chains with proper clustering across the state along with positioning competent human resources in the SHGs ecosystem are required.
• Schematic Convergence: Field level schematic convergence is the need of the hour to bring synergies directly or indirectly with the institutions of the poor.

3. WOMEN IN INDIA’S TOY INDUSTRY, AT MSME WORKPLACE AND IN HANDLOOM SECTOR

 

Topics Covered GS-1: Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies. GS-1: Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism. GS-1: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections. GS-3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Toy Industries & Women Empowerment

• Employment in the toy manufacturing sector offers its female majority workforce avenues for socio-economic empowerment, financial security, and skill development.
• It also offers opportunities for women to act as agents of change by preserving local toy forms, intrinsic to their regions.
• For instance, most Assamese households have the tradition of women making cloth dolls in each family and passing on the art form from the mother to the daughter.
• Toy manufacturing also creates possibilities for men and women artisans to work together, thereby promoting equal task division and partnerships.
• For instance, in Tamil Nadu the manufacturing processes of ‘Vilachary’ clay toys are divided between men and women.

 

FACTS According to a report by the National Productivity Council, India’s toy industry employs three million workers, of which 70 per cent are women. India’s current toy industry is estimated to be valued at $1.5 billion and has the potential to grow to $2-3 billion by 2024. India’s domestic toy demand is predicted to grow at 10-15% against the global average of 5%. The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) was launched on 8 March 2018 (on the occasion of International Women’s Day) as NITI Aayog’s flagship initiative. Women entrepreneurship is being promoted in a big way in the Northeast and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) came forward to provide a Viability Fund to new startups..

• Challenges Faced by the Toy Industry:

• It continues to be significantly fragmented, with 90 per cent of the market being unorganised.
• 75% of domestic manufacturing originates in micro-industries, while 22% comes from MSMEs. Less than 3% of the domestic toy manufacturing processes come from larger units.
• The retail value of the Indian toy market is INR 16,000 crores of which close to three-fourths are Chinese imports.

• Government Initiatives:

• In January 2021, it launched ‘Toyotathon’, a hackathon to develop toys and games based on Indian culture and ethos.
• To promote the indigenous toy manufacturing industry, this multi-Ministerial effort sought to create an ‘Atma Nirbhar’ eco-system for local manufactures by exploring their untapped potential.
• Toy manufacturing clusters across the country have come to be formally recognised and supported by the government.
• State govts. are in the process of allocating spaces for toy parks. For instance, Koppal District in Karnataka has recently been recognised as the country’s first toy manufacturing cluster.

Women In Handloom Sector

• Different parts of India have produced distinct styles — muslin of Chanderi, Varanasi brocades, Rajasthan and Odisha have given tie and die products.
• Patola sarees from Patan, Himroo of Hyderabad, phulkari and Khes from Punjab, Daccai and Jamdani from Bengal, traditional designs from Assam and Manipur like the Phenek and Tongam.
• Handloom Sector And Women’s Empowerment Through Financial Independence:

• The relevance of the handloom sector in the agrarian economy is massive because of its linkages with crucial and sensitive sectors like agriculture.
• It uses agricultural products as raw materials and, therefore, provides an ever-ready market for agricultural produce.
• It is a sector that directly addresses women’s empowerment. As per the 2019-20 census, the sector engages over 23 lakhs female weavers and allied workers.
• According to the Fourth All India Handloom Census, the total number of households in India engaged in handloom activities (weaving and allied activities) is 31.45 lakhs.
• A higher number of females are involved in allied activities related to the handlooms. Female workforce participation rate in allied activities in this sector is twice as much higher than their male counterpart.

 

Additional Information As per WHO, breast cancer accounts for 2.09 million cases and 627000 deaths globally. In India, it accounts for 14% of all cancers in women. A report stated that caused 5% of the total disability-adjusted life years in the Indian population in 2016. Nari Shakti Puraskar 2018: Dr A. Seema was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar 2018 for her outstanding contributions to benefit women through science and technology including the development of a wearable device for breast cancer screening. She has developed a low-cost, portable, easy-to-use breast cancer screening device. In India, because of the large population, mass screening using devices like a mammogram is not practical and affordable. This invention was selected as one of the ten best innovations in the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration under the innovations category. She was also awarded the prestigious National Award for Women’s Development through Application of Science and Technology by DST in 2019 for this invention.

 

4. GENDER JUSTICE AND GENDER DIVERSITY IN PSUS

 

Topics Covered • GS-1: Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India. • GS-2: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies. • GS-3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Impact of Socialisation

• In the mid-twentieth century, the French social philosopher Simone de Beauvoir wrote the magnum opus ‘Second Sex’.
• Here she elaborated the secondary position of the women because of social-cultural factors. She famously wrote that ‘one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.’
• She mentions that the ‘sex’ (biological difference between male and female) in the course of time becomes ‘gender’ (a socio-cultural construct).
• It happens due to primary (family peer groups, community) and secondary (school, college, club, public library, offices, sports, etc.) socialisation.

Recent Judicial Orders Ensuring Gender Justice

• As per IFS Services Rules, married women were not allowed to join IFS. This was quashed by the SC.
• In Joseph Shine v Union of India, Supreme Court struck down Section 497 of IPC (punishment for adultery) as unconstitutional, being violative of Articles 14, 15, and 21 and Section 497 which was based on gender stereotypes on the role of women.
• Recently, SC declared Talaq-e-bidat (triple talaq at the same time) unconstitutional & arbitrary (violative of fundamental right to equality).

Empowerment Parameters

• The Fifth National Family Health Survey (2019-20) talks of the following factors for the empowerment of women:

• ownership of physical assets-mobile phones, bank accounts, land & housing;
• access to menstrual hygiene products (sanitary napkins etc);
• participation in household decisions (healthcare for herself, household purchases, visits to family/relatives);
• employment status;
• gender violence;
• marriage under the age of 18 years; and
• educational attainment of more than 10 years.

• However, SDGs also take into account – (i) the time spent on domestic or unpaid work decisions; (ii) decision on reproductive health; and (iii) incidence of female genital mutilation.

Progress of Indian Women as per NFHS (2019-20)

• Sex ratio at birth in 2020 increased to 942,
• Due to PMJDY, women’s bank accounts increased by 28% (2015- 2020).
• Participation in household decision making increased marginally to 85%.
• Share of women marrying before 18 years is about 30% (both in 2015 and 2020).
• Domestic violence stagnated but during the Covid-19 lockdown it surged to 60%.
• Share of the Union Budget spent on women-related schemes has stagnated at about 5.5% since 2009, and less than 30% of which is being spent on 100% women-focused schemes.
• Spending of budget of Ministry of Women and Child Development on women empowerment decreased to Rs 310 crores in 2019-2020,
• Stunting of children rose in 11 states: Bihar has the highest prevalence of NMR (34), IMR (47), and under 5 MR (56) across 22 states/UTs surveyed.
• IMR in India is 32, much higher than in developed countries.
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR) declined in most of the states

• replacement level (2.1) achieved in 19 out of 22 states/UTs surveyed;
• only states like Manipur (2.2), Meghalaya (2.9), Bihar (3,2), and UP (2.9) have higher TFR than replacement level
• Still the average TFR in India is 2.2 per woman.

• More than 2/3rds of children below 5 years are immunised fully in all states, except Meghalaya, Nagaland and Assam.

Gender Diversity in PSUs

• Gender diversity continues to be low in the Central Public Sector Undertakings. Recent data indicates that even in Maharatna PSUs, the strength of women employees is very low, only 5% to 9% of the total employees.
• Companies Act, 2013 made it mandatory to have at least one-woman directors on boards with effect from 2014. Data reveals that the number of women at below board level is also far from equitable.
• Issues:

• There is a lack of focus on developing a female talent pipeline.
• Number of women applicants at the entry-level is skewed as compared to men. This gets reflected at a higher level.
• Men perceive women to be less enthusiastic to take up transfer postings, or serve long at field site locations due to family responsibilities.
• Men also felt that women are likely to lag in knowledge or skill development due to career breaks for maternity or child care.
• Women also feel that they may get left out despite being meritorious as they do not socialise informally with seniors in the organisation.

5. GIRL CHILD PROTECTION

Topics Covered • GS-1: Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies. • GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

 

PRELIMS FOCUS The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 – It protects children from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and the use of pornographic material for sexual offences against children. Under the Act, special courts have been established to deal with these offences. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 seeks to safeguard the rights of children in conflict with the law, and those in need of care and protection. Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) was launched in 2009 to build a protective environment for children in difficult circumstances. A National Tracking System for Missing and Vulnerable Children, State Child Protection Societies, Juvenile Justice Boards are established across all States. In 2015, the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme was launched to tackle the declining sex ratio at birth, and to empower the girl child through education. In 2020, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights launched Standard Operating Procedure for Care and Protection of Children in Street Situations. Other prominent laws are - Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 (Amendment Act, 2016); the Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006; the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act 1994. The National Crime Record Bureau reported that in the year 2019 about 33.2% of the total crime was committed against children.

 

Intersection of Vulnerabilities

• Multidimensional poverty poses a direct threat for girls’ safety in three major forms: discriminatory attitudes resulting in poor nutrition and health care; housework and care burden; and exposure to violence.
• Poor girls are at greater risk of child marriage and trafficking. Girls in street situations, orphans, abandoned, and child laborers are at high risk.
• Girls with disabilities are more likely to face sexual exploitation, particularly if they are visually impaired or having mental conditions.
• A young girl child of migrant and informal workers is susceptible to harm, neglect, and abuse.

Covid-19 and Girls

• Socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 are gendered, evident in the form of educational inequality, sexual violence and increased household burden.
• In India, the National Commission for Women reported a 2.5 times increase in domestic violence during the initial months of nationwide lockdown.
• According to research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the socio-economic consequences of Covid-19 have increased migrant smuggling and cross-border trafficking.
• UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report (2021) throws light on increased educational inequalities for adolescent girls during the Covid-19 crisis. UNESCO estimates that around 11 million girls may not return to school.
• The digital gender gap deters girls’ remote education and access to information.

Way Forward

• Educate families
• Overcome gender bias in education
• Launch stringent measures to eliminate child marriage
• Ensure that girl safety is a collective responsibility
• Educate and Empower girl children on their rights.
• Prioritise early childhood period.
• Lead advocacy, campaigns and activism to echo girl child protection
• Strong protection net for most vulnerable and promote safe adoption practices
• Develop capacities of human resource and systems
• Educate girls about cyber safety particularly adolescent girls
• A gendered approach to disaster risk mitigation.
• Empower young girls to act on climate change.

6. MAKING OF THE ADMINISTRATORS

Topics Covered • GS-2: RRole of civil services in a democracy. • GS-4: Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-sections. • GS-4: Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance. • GS-4: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.

• The Administrative Service is responsible for the public administration of the government of the country, except legislative, judiciary and military.
• Civil servants work for the central government and state government and play a crucial role in the functioning of the governments and the delivery of service to the citizens.
• Origin of Civil Services in India:

• The present system of civil services was created by the British to serve their imperial interests.
• It was established as the Imperial Civil Service (ICS) to perform regulatory functions like maintaining law and order and generating revenue.

• Civil Service after Independence:

• In the democratic set-up the political leadership was likely to change at periodic intervals. In such a scenario, the necessity of bureaucratic continuity and neutrality of civil servants was deemed essential.
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel strongly advocated for continuing the civil service, calling it ‘the steel frame of India’.
• Later, the Constituent Assembly incorporated Article 312 to constitute All India Services.
• Significant changes were also visualised in the role of the administrators. It was no longer seen to be limited to the colonial role of revenue collection and enforcing law & order.
• Welfare oriented Indian governments used the policy formulation and implementation capabilities of these administrators to design and roll out many schemes in all domains.
• The institution of civil services has worked along with the political leadership for the overall socio-economic development of the country.
• With its national character, it has also been a strong binding force to a Union of States.

• Role of Civil Services:

• Service presence throughout the country and strong binding character,
• The administrative and managerial capacity of the services,
• Effective policy-making and regulation,
• Effective coordination between institutions of governance,
• Leadership at different levels of administration
• Service delivery at the cutting-edge level
• Providing ‘continuity and change’ to the administration

Reforms in Civil Services

• Need for Reform in Civil services:

• The present system of the training of civil servants is very comprehensive, relevant and career-spanning. Yet, fact remains that it was designed decades ago and continues to foster the same mindsets, which were plagued by the shadows of colonial mistrust.
• Also new technologies are changing the governance landscape which necessitates Civil Services Reform.
• Change in outlook and performance of administrators can come only by a transformation in their attitudes and mindsets from that of a ruler to a leader, collaborator and facilitator.
• The strong value system, the courage of conviction and positive outlook must be deeply entrenched in the civil servants to cope with external pressures.
• This leads to the question of altering and improving the intangible attitudes and mindsets of trainee civil servants. It is the area of attitudes, which is much more challenging and harder to be crystallised in simplistic determinants.

• Recent Reforms in the Training of Administrators:

• Mission Karmayogi:

        v       The Union Cabinet has approved the adoption of the New National Architecture for Civil Services Capacity Building called “Mission Karmayogi” in September 2020.

        v       It is a competency focussed training of officials using digital platforms that aims to transform the capacity building apparatus at the individual, institutional, and process levels.

        v       The Programme will be delivered by setting up an Integrated Government Online Training-iGOT Karmayogi Platform.

• Aarambh:

        v       ‘Aarambh’ is an initiative to bring all the probationers of All India Service, Group-A Central Services and Foreign Service together for a Common Foundation Course (CFC).

        v       It breaks the silos of services and departments from the very beginning of the career of a civil servant.

        v       It aims at making the civil servants capable of leading the transformation and work seamlessly across departments and fields.

• Common Mid-Career Training Programme (CMCTP):

        v       A scheme, similar to Aarambh, has been envisaged to break the silos among different civil services at the mid-career level in the form of the Common Mid-Career Training Programme (CMCTP).

        v       This programme aims at providing a common learning platform for officers belonging to different civil services. It will focus on the development of behavioural, functional, and domain level competencies.

1. “Empowering women is the key to control population growth”. Discuss.                                                  (GS-1: 2019)
2. What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space?                                      (GS-1: 2019)
3. ‘Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata. Substantiate your view.                                                                                                                                                                                      (GS-1: 2019)
4. How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle class working woman in India?                          (GS-1: 2019)
5. Examine the main provisions of the National Child Policy and throw light on the status of its implementation.                                                                                                                                                                                                 (GS-2: 2016)

1. It has been repeatedly argued that how the issues of sexual violence fade into more intricacy by the victim blaming culture of a patriarchal society. Comment.
2. Socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 are gendered, evident in the form of educational inequality, sexual violence and increased household burden. Discuss.
3. The strong value system, the courage of conviction and positive outlook must be deeply entrenched in the civil servants to cope with external pressures. Justify your answer.
4. Lots of challenges are being faced by the toy industry despite the increase in India’s domestic toy demand. How do you think it can be resolved? What is the government doing to promote such things?
5. The digital gender gap deters girls’ remote education and access to information. Comment.

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